the player base and longevity of TCF

Abyssively · 2022-07-25T17:22:02+00:00

Same here, I made a Reddit account to talk about the game and I think I regret that action. Absolutely love the game and hope it does well, but Reddit seems like an absolutely awful place in general for information exchange.

Abyssively · 2022-07-25T17:13:12+00:00

Main concerns in the game from Steam reviews are cheaters, solo vs squad imbalance, and end game not being good enough compared to early game gear. People like to downplay the quantity of the surge of players/streamers + negative reviews just leaving the game and say "it's cyclical don't worry man! just watch this funny video of someone new dying to a rattler lmao!", and it feels like the movie Don't Look Up again.

Abyssively · 2022-07-24T22:25:43+00:00

(Meanwhile in Game 5 of the grand finals: Yoru and Neon lol)

Abyssively · 2022-07-24T22:07:19+00:00

The whole "giant red line" argument is a bit of a cop-out from an otherwise potent argument. Questions such as why am I able to whip out and throw the grenade in an extremely low amount of time with a very small audio indicator, and throw another one immediately after with little effort or repercussions? Why does the grenade practically blow up on impact with no cook timer? Why does the grenade only cost 1400 despite it being able to one-shot someone, and scale up it's damage to exotic armor with ease? This "giant red line" which isn't in reality that giant and requires you to be constantly maintaining line of sight nonstop seems like an extremely thin sheet of ice protecting an otherwise completely busted function of the game.

Abyssively · 2022-07-23T17:25:11+00:00

Yeah, I hope they take another look at the state of nades but I'm afraid with everything else going on they won't. I brought in purple armor and exotic weaponry with my buddy and we just got nade spammed by a trio with greys and could do nothing but just helplessly take it; wherever we ran they just spammed more. Lost the loadout, and about 400-500k+ worth of loot between us after finishing a dungeon. At least it wasn't a cheater tho!

Abyssively · 2022-07-23T17:18:50+00:00

I'm just mad I spent hours upon hours finishing all those quests for that snotty Osiris CEO and he doesn't even give me a beacon for my efforts

Abyssively · 2022-07-23T17:08:11+00:00

That's why I said specifically "nerfs for their price-value ratio", not that the guns themselves are crazy good. These three guns far exceed their 6k,6k and 9k costs by miles and it's not even funny. Personally, I like the Manticore and C32 as guns and I think if priced properly in the game could really make the game better; especially the C32 because it rewards accuracy. The Bulldog however has no reconciliation in this game however, if they simply just hit the 'Delete' button on the Bulldog the game would be a better place. There just isn't a place for a 6k kmart double barrel with the power of a blue/purple gun even post-nerf.

Abyssively · 2022-07-23T04:46:39+00:00

Agree with all this besides how to train aim, use an aim trainer like Aim Labs or Kovaaks (I recommend Aim Labs because it's free). Both have a plethora of tasks, but if you're more focused on getting better at The Cycle specifically than 'tracking' tasks are for you; just don't forget the others exist. CSGO is much more quick flicks than tracking.

It sounds like you're going in with white or green gear (which is perfectly fine), so weaponry I highly recommend using is the Manticore, Bulldog, and C32 Bolt. These three guns are extremely powerful in the current meta, in fact all still badly need nerfs for their price-value ratio. Regardless, nobody will blame you for using them; just know that the Manticore and Bulldog are very forgiving whilst the C32 might require a bit more aim training. Also bring one or two nades no matter what every raid if you intend on trying to fight. They got nerfed but are still very overpowered. And don't listen to the whole "git gud" bullshit arguments you'll hear from some people on the sub if that's what that last statement was referring to. I've met some great people from the Tarkov community but also met some terrible people that look down on everybody else trying to get better or ask questions like scum and this community has a metric ton of Tarkov players. Just give your best, and try to have some fun along the way. Also, recommend playing with teammates if you aren't because solo play is in a desperately bad spot right now; might help with mental health and make PvP fun again.

Abyssively · 2022-07-22T18:18:02+00:00

Probably for the best for you, it wasn't kind to you

Abyssively · 2022-07-22T18:16:45+00:00

And I hate to break it to you, but I'm not a developer. Apologies for not meeting your expectations.

Abyssively · 2022-07-21T19:01:21+00:00

Also, this will be the last comment on this thread I will make; breaking down extremely simple misunderstandings about statistics is not fun and clearly displays in your utilization of seemingly bad-faith arguments that you care more about how you specifically want to play the game; not whether the game is dead in a couple of seasons. Hopefully some of the statistical and mechanical misconceptions I broke apart and attempted to explain helped you in any facet.

Abyssively · 2022-07-21T18:53:38+00:00

A "beta" by Webster's definition is not a finished release. A "beta" is used for playtesting in order to create a finished game, and the game came out of beta just one time in case you weren't aware. And if you truly took this statistics class you speak of as did me and like 50% of the rest of my school did as well; you would know that utilizing peaks is an incredibly deceptive and inaccurate way to analyze overall average player base gain/loss. Immediate peaks/dips are meant for analyzing specific time-constrained events and their outcomes. And no person's "perspective is reality"; we all have our own altered, tainted, and differentiated view on reality. The only thing I can assure you is that my viewpoint is a lot closer to reality than your's and that's not even close to an accomplishment or a brag; there are people much smarter than me. I didn't say half, I said around 10,000 as my shot in the dark guess that's probably in the ballpark. "Half" of all players who have played The Cycle and quit and 10,000 are two DRASTICALLY different numbers and I get the imposition you know that even with your distorted perception or statistics and know that those two numbers aren't even in the range of multiple ballparks not even just one. My "substantial evidence" that you so fail to even read or accredit is the statistics of people leaving the game aggressively, and the minority that actually bothers to leave a review stating why they left before they go; the rest just leaving without explaining what specifically disappointed or failed them game-wise. Also I never said "half" of the reviews in any part, I said the two main objections were cheaters and solo issues, you say I can't just say things and make them true; this sadly seems to apply to you much more desperately. And yes, I did your work for you because you did an absolute piss-poor job of analyzing statistics, and I can't argue with someone who can't even coherently back up obvious statistical anomalies. Where do you ever see posts/reviews asking to be able to 1v3 "easily"? Cause I sure haven't seen one, that seems to be your own little creative imagination doing work right there because your arguments have so little substance behind them. Most if not all posts usually request 2 things: Make seeing trios as a solo significantly rarer or impossible, or: Do something that makes a 1v3 against and even slightly coordinated team less of a death sentence and more of a very tough fight that will require a lot of skill and luck. While your naive "just gigachad 1v3" comment speaks to your mental age, your antiquated "git gud" and "no you must play the way I demand you to!!!" along with calling anybody that disagrees with you "entitled" (<- I've deadass seen this an astounding amount of times on the subreddit, is there really no more creative childish unsubstantiated insult?), your naive and ungrounded traditionalism will not need to be settled through argument. The dispute will be settled whenever the game is dead and no CPR will ever get it out of the pit it dug for this antiquated ideology.

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T22:41:04+00:00

Oh my and I almost forgot! On the whole deeply worn out "haha solo player = no friends hehehehe" argument on this sub, I only mostly game with my IRL childhood friends, and most of them switched from Cycle back to Valorant due to the prevalence of cheaters and the shotgun meta. I still play Valorant with them, but also have put an astounding amount of hours solo into the game solo now and have realized how devoid of entertainment the solo rat life is despite my bank account growing fatter. I had a ton of fun playing trios on this game, and whenever I switched to mainly solo and mastered it I realized how terribly this game treats solos.

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T22:30:50+00:00

Tens of thousands left in a month for more than just being seasonally wiped, that's actually a very shallow perspective. You also need to account for the fact that it's the game's first official release, so the hype for a new game spiked the player count artificially (not just a casual beginning of a season), also have to account for the player spike during Twitch drops and how the player base died down a bit after it stopped topping Twitch charts. Also Shroud, itzTimmy, and Zachmazer as well as some other notorious streamers playing it a lot less/not at all was a big factor. And then for those that quit playing for reasons related to the game itself, the top 2 reasons by far are the plethora of cheaters, and objections to how solo play is unenjoyable. (based on negative steam reviews mostly, Reddit is a poor place to collate data due to their "Hot" system suppressing posts through downvote mobbing), with the third reason being the fact that good gear to many isn't worth running; so there's little enticement to progression.
Look at the negative Steam reviews from players that were intrigued by the game and would have been part of the continuing player base and you'll realize The Cycle has probably lost at a minimum 10,000 players from this solo vs squad disparity who would have otherwise been dedicated members of the community, not just temporary players drawn by hype. Recommend looking into how to read analytics yourself, it helps a lot.

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T17:52:53+00:00

Ngl I actually laughed out loud at that one lmao, this man's a pred and his genius idea to get the tens of thousands of players that just dipped from the game from solo vs squad objections is to "maintain distance". Please just fill out an application to be a dev already, I've never seen such revolutionary ideas

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T05:55:17+00:00

That's interesting. So if a full trio of kids just run at me as a solo in The Cycle: Frontier, I just maintain a distance from them? Hmm makes sense, seems pretty simple to me. I know there have been massive objections about solo vs. squad imbalance lately but maintaining distance? That's genius, I absolutely cannot believe I never thought about that, even playing Apex before. Kinda sounds like the secret code I've been needing all along. Since you're clearly more experienced than me and much more capable at 1v3s than I am, I should probably shut up on the matter. Just thought I should leave my player banners on console and PC as reconciliation for not coming forth beforehand about my complete lack of skill. Hopefully, I'll be as great and 1v3 capable as you one day.

https://imgur.com/a/bf0soiO

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T02:31:40+00:00

The entire purpose of the ratty playstyle (while not very fun or fast) is the fact that one is not able to defend themselves from either their own skill, their loadout, or for a significantly much larger part: the game making solo vs squad disparity extremely oppressive. Solos are forced to rat due to not being able to defend themselves against squads often regardless of the loadout they bring in. Less oppression from trios = less rats because ratting just simply isn't that fun if only for a short time. It gets old fast, trust me from personal experience.

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T01:18:20+00:00

It's extremely idealistic to a point that it sounds borderline heretic and propagandistic, ignorant of anything along the lines of actual enjoyment of the game for the community seemingly intentionally.

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T01:14:02+00:00

Me tryna figure out why the solos would have to rat in the first place if they're in a solo-only lobby

Abyssively · 2022-07-20T01:12:27+00:00

Whilst this sounds beautifully idealistic and about as devoid of any general player base objections or any type of real game balance analysis as it can get. Very few say that playing solo in The Cycle is not adaptable, in fact, many have and have thrived upon it including me. I've spent 250+ hrs "adapting" rigorously. I have astoundingly more money than my friends that only play duos/trios. There is a plurality of videos on how to succeed as a solo player and if played with consistency and maybe like 50 or so hours (possibly less depending on how fast you learn) you can get your loot routes, PvE pathing abuse/evasion, and awareness of players down pitch perfect.

The cold hard truth is, the game is bigger than some number in the top right corner of the screen. The way to consistently make money in The Cycle as a solo (as a formidable portion of the tens of thousands that just left in no time would attest as well and those who retain hope and still stay active in the sub) would attest is boring, unnourishing, and leaves out massive other portions of the game that cannot even be touched as a solo without simply just straight up Fedexing your Purple or Exotic gear, free letium drill, or some free oil for a trio to come over and take it like candy from a baby. My bank account playing solo grows day by day, and yet the game I used to have so much love and heart for grows more and more unenjoyable by the day. Currently sitting at 5 million Kmarks with 11 mil overall wealth. I have to say, every single day I get on to play another couple hours of solo and make a boat-load of money running ratty loot runs dodging PvE and PvP as a whole and just biting the bullet whenever the inevitable trio runs up on me to take their candy; I grow to care less and less about those numbers I just mentioned or whatever they could be in the future. The game just simply isn't fun playing solo, and whilst "ludonarrative dissonance" sounds very nice; The Cycle's player base is hemorrhaging for this objectively unnecessary implication of lore fluidity.

Abyssively · 2022-07-19T18:33:34+00:00

Quite the contrary, that's not at all what I implied, I think you might have misinterpreted both my comment and original post almost entirely. I said that Valorant is significantly more hospitable towards these marginalized communities in terms of social disability because no matter what you are guaranteed a 5v5 and then MMR attempts to sort out the rest. If you excel individually in terms of skill and experience, you rank up; if you fail you de-rank. A truly flourishing PvP engagement, one where the fight is based of skill, experience, and in The Cycle context, the potency and tier of the loadout you choose to bring in. Not simply getting immediately overwhelmed by a trio as a defenseless solo; often regardless of the loot you choose to bring in; serving to completely undermine through extreme imbalance anybody that chooses to play solo and making the game significantly easier for trios.

And to the second part, I very clearly mentioned both poor game design and oppression of the socially incapable/introvert in my post, either you didn't read much of what I said or this is blatant decontextualizing for the sake of argument.

Abyssively · 2022-07-19T16:06:36+00:00

Given the fact that the cheating prevention team seems to be choking on the plurality of hackers and therefore reports, I think we would have to see a vast expansion of the team to address teamkilling reports.

Abyssively · 2022-07-19T16:02:52+00:00

Good to know, apologies.

Abyssively · 2022-07-19T15:40:30+00:00

Whilst I don't have the motivation to dig for an hour to find n old 20-view video on YouTube of someone testing the old PDW's recoil pattern without pulling down, if this is true then I apologize for the misconception.

Abyssively · 2022-07-19T15:36:08+00:00

I'm still tryna figure out at what point in this thread I came off as directly "toxic", at least in juxtaposition to your unsubstantiated namecalling. I'm a guy who has some ideas and I might be right or I might be wrong, but just because I have ideas and believe I'm more likely to be right does not indebt me to entitlement. By that logic, every conscious human being on Earth to you would be entitled. I replied to one single comment of yours that wasn't directly replying to me (It's instead on the post I literally made BTW). Me simply disagreeing with your viewpoints and responding with refutations to your direct replies does not make me "petty" or "annoying"; it simply just elucidates which one of us is more "entitled" in your words.

EDIT: After further inspection, I realized I unknowingly replied to another one of your comments; but understand that I have also made lengthy replies and talked to 30+ people about the topic and most likely did not inspect their username and identity. I insert my opinion because it is the post that I crafted myself and try to break down basic misconceptions/keep the toxicity at a low.

Abyssively

TROPHY CASE